Early life influences on child weight outcomes in the Study to Explore Early Development.
Tanja Ve Kral, Jesse Chittams, Chyrise B Bradley and 13 others
PMID 30102071WHAT IT FOUND
Maternal overweight/obesity before pregnancy and excess gestational weight gain were linked to preschool overweight/obesity across ASD, DD, and typical development.
Children with ASD had the highest frequency of rapid infant weight gain, and it was linked to their overweight/obesity. No intervention was tested.
Key findings
01Mothers who were overweight/obese before pregnancy were 2.38 times more likely to have an overweight/obese preschool child, and the association was similar across ASD, DD, and general-population groups.
02Mothers whose gestational weight gain exceeded guideline recommendations were 1.48 times more likely to have an overweight/obese preschool child than mothers who met the recommendations.
03Among children with ASD, rapid infant weight gain was associated with overweight/obesity at ages 2-5: 37.6% versus 19.1%, and after covariates the odds were 3.47 times higher.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is observational, so it shows associations, not that maternal weight, gestational weight gain, or infant weight gain caused child obesity. Maternal height and pre-pregnancy weight were self-reported, so maternal BMI may be inaccurate. The sample may not represent all children with ASD or developmental disabilities because of selection bias and limited representativeness. The original sample was 3899 children, and the analysed sample was 2466 children after exclusions. IUGR prevalence may have been underestimated. The association between rapid weight gain and child overweight/obesity in ASD was affected by birth weight, so it is hard to separate rapid weight gain from low birth weight.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types list U.S. government and Public Health Service research support, but the article text does not state a funder or sponsor role.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that changing maternal weight, gestational weight gain, or infant weight gain will prevent child obesity. This was an observational study, and no intervention was tested.